Zenobe begins building 1GW of giant batteries

Zenobe has begun building a series of three giant batteries storage facilities across Scotland that will be used to provide stability services to the power grid.

With a combined capacity of 1GW/2GWh, the company said they will provide more megawatt-hours of energy storage than all grid-connected batteries currently operational in the UK.

Zenobe said they also represent Europe’s largest ever investment in battery storage by a single company, worth £750 million.

Construction of the initial project – a 300MW/600MWh facility at the Blackhillock substation in Moray – began earlier this month. The first 200MW/400MWh phase of the project is scheduled to go live in the first half of 2024.

This will be followed by another 300MW/600MWh facility at the Kilmarnock South substation in East Ayrshire. The first 200MW/400MWh phase is scheduled to begin operating in the second half of 2024.

The final project will be a 400MW/800MWh facility at the Eccles substation in Berwickshire, which is due to begin operating in the first half of 2026.

All three facilities will be connected directly to the transmission network and will provide stability services to National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) after securing contracts in the second tender for the ESO’s Stability Pathfinder programme earlier this year. The ESO awarded a total of 10 contracts worth £323 million.

Under the contracts, the batteries will be used to boost both short-circuit level – the amount of current that flows through the electricity system during a fault – and inertia – the resistance of the electricity system to sudden changes in frequency.

These services are usually provided by fossil fuel and nuclear power stations, many of which are now closing. They include the Hunterston B nuclear plant in North Ayrshire, which ceased operating in January.

Zenobe said they are first commercial contracts in the world to use transmission-connected batteries to provide short-circuit level and inertia. It said the three batteries will be able to provide 4.4GVAs of inertia, equating to 5-10% of Britain total requirement.

The batteries will also help to ease congestion on the power grid by importing surplus renewable electricity during periods of peak generation.

Zenobe co-founder and director James Basden said: “These projects are using the latest technological innovation to make renewable energy more reliable and affordable at a national scale. This is the future for how utility scale battery projects will work on every grid.

“Our projects at Blackhillock, Kilmarnock South and Eccles are world-firsts for battery storage, addressing a key, complex hurdle to the uptake of renewables in an innovative way and pushing forward our progress to energy independence and a zero-carbon grid.

“At a time of increasing energy prices and the need for greater energy security, this is the type of investment which the UK needs now to drive growth, and which will enable both the country and Zenobe to become leaders in delivering the energy transition.”

Julian Leslie, head of networks at National Grid ESO, said: “NGESO is working hard to enable the UK to have a carbon free power network. Working with the industry we have developed contracts that accelerate the rapid uptake of renewable power. These contracts are part of the solution that will enable NGESO to have the ability to operate a zero carbon system in 2025.

“Investment into the use of new technologies by innovative companies like Zenobe is bringing this ambition nearer. The investment into these three major projects represents a turning point in how major grid scale battery storage can support the grid as fossil fuel generation is phased out.”

Zenobe is also building a 50MW/100MWh project at the Wishaw substation in North Lanarkshire, which will become Scotland’s first transmission-connected battery storage facility when it begins operating in the first half of 2023.